Is there no end to the seemingly endless fascination with superhero media? Mark, Erica, and Brian are joined by Travis, who teaches political philosophy at Concordia) to discuss. Travis sees their resonance as a matter of metaphor: How can we do more with the abilities we have? His book Superhero Ethics matches up heroes like Batman vs. Spider-Man for ethical comparison: Both … [Read more...] about PMP#63: Superhero Ethics (and The Boys) w/ Travis Smith
Comics
PMP#60: Manga 101 w/ Deborah Shamoon
One of our goals on Pretty Much Pop has been to look into not just our favorite creators and genres but into things that get a lot of buzz but which we really don't know anything about. Manga is a great example of a "look what these crazy kids are into today" kind of area for many (older) Americans. Deborah Shamoon, an American who teaches Japanese studies at the National … [Read more...] about PMP#60: Manga 101 w/ Deborah Shamoon
PMP#56: Black + Nerd = BLERD w/ Anthony LeBlanc
The Interim Executive Producer of The Second City joins Mark, Erica, and Brian to discuss the scope of black nerd-dom: what nerdy properties provide to those who feel "othered," using sci-fi to talk about race, Black Panther and other heroes, afrofuturism, black anime fans, Star Trek, Key & Peele, Get Out vs. Us, and more. A few articles you might enjoy: "Blerd … [Read more...] about PMP#56: Black + Nerd = BLERD w/ Anthony LeBlanc
PMP#26: We Watch “Watchmen” w/ David Pizarro
Perhaps the most lauded graphic novel has been sequelized for HBO, and amazingly, it turned out pretty darn well (with a 96% Rotten Tomatoes rating!). Mark, Erica, and Brian are joined by the Cornell psych prof who hosts the Very Bad Wizards podcast. We consider Alan Moore's 1986 graphic novel, the 2009 Zack Snyder film, and of course mostly the recently completed (we … [Read more...] about PMP#26: We Watch “Watchmen” w/ David Pizarro
PMP#8: Spider-Man: Far From Home (and Elsewhere)
Mark, Erica, and Brian finally cover a current film, and of course use it as an entry point in discussing the social function of super-hero films more generally, how much realism or grittiness is needed in such stories, whether to repeat or bypass the origin story, everlasting franchises, the use of multi-verses as a storytelling device, exaggerating the potential in a story of … [Read more...] about PMP#8: Spider-Man: Far From Home (and Elsewhere)